Aeroplane-wing construction



l 1330, W. M. cRoss AEROPLANE WING CONSTRUCTION FUed Jan. 12, 1929 IN VEN T OR Wafer/Z 0055 BY JZWV (g. M

1 ATTORNEY 4 I Ill/IA All!!! Patented Apr. 1, 1930 WALTER M. CROSS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI AEROPII'JANE'WING CONSTRUCTION Application filed January 12. 1929. Serial No. 332,085.

This invention relates to improvements in aeroplane wing construction, and refers more particularly to a type of wing construction in which the-wing braces and struts are built up in two separate halves which fit together. These separate frame sections have meeting elements by. means of which they may be fixedly united to produce a unitary combination or structurally unitary frame.

The invention is an improvement .over the construction shown in my co-pending appli- (lzation, Serial No. 324,908, filed December 10,

Fi 1 isa cross section of the wing, showing t e interior construction.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail showing one.

manner in which the central meeting members may be fixedly united.

Fig. 3 is a side View of the structure shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an alternative method of uniting the meeting members.

Referring to the drawings, the wing consists of form members 1 which define the contour of the wing. The outside edges of these.

form members are saw-toothed to receive the corrugated metal sheet 2 which, as described in my co-pending application, is -'-fixedly welded, riveted or otherwise attached to the plane outside surface sheet 3.- The reinforcement wing covering consisting of the combined corrugated sheet 2 and the plane outside surface sheet 3 is fixedly attached to the form members by uniting the undulations or corrugations of the lower sheet to thesawtoothed outer edges of the forms. The skeleton of the wing, consistin of the forms 1, the braces or struts 4 and t e meeting memhere 5 and 6, are built up in two halves and in separate units. One half of the wmgconsists of the forms 1 which define the upper contour of the wing and the braces or struts 42 which extend from these form members to the upper meeting elements 6. The lower unit or win section consists of the lower forms 1 which define the curvature of the bottom of the wing, the accompanying struts and braces and the lower meeting element 5.

These upper and lower meeting elements may consist of angle members, channels, plates or into the channels 5 and 6. Extending down any other desired type of member, it being essential only that the meeting elements properly coincide and may be united by means of welding, rivets, bolts or keying members to produce a unitary wing frame structure. In the manufacture of a wing of this type,

fabricating of the frame into separate halves is completed and the reinforcement surface consisting of the corrugated and plane sheets 2 and 3 are then afiixedto the outer form meml0 bers. This attaching of the reinforcement sheets to the form members is done whilethe two halves of the frame are separated, so that the reinforcement covering can be properly attached to the edges of the forms by 66 welding, riveting or otherwise securing the undulations of the corru ated sheet to the saw-toothed edges of the orm, variations of which are suggested in my co-pending application. After the reinforcement sheets have 70 been attached to the forms, the two halves of the wing frames are swung together and attached in a manner such as that hereinafter described.

As a possible variation of this method, the 76 reinforcement covering may be separated in two arts,one part covering the lower frame or ri members and the other part covering the upper frame or rib members, and the two halves combined and a reinforcement plane 80 sheet placed over the front edge of the wing where the two reinforcement sheets meet.

In the drawings, in Fig. 1, the rear or trailing edge of thewin is shown only to the point at which the ai eron surface is at tached. In Figs. 2 and 3 the meeting members are shown as channels designated as6 and 5. The upper andlower braces 4 are welded from the upper channels are a plurality of tongues or lugs 7 which extend through apertures 8 in an intermediate channel 9. This intermediate channel 9 lies adjacent theupper channel 6" when the twohal'vesof the Wing are set inposition to be united. Thi'oughthe lugs 7 are holes through which is inserted a rod 10 which extends the width of the wing, passing through the holes in eachfof the lugs '100 which extend down from the upper channel or meeting members 6 is obvious in uniting the two halves of the wing that it is necessary only to bring the two frames into position so that the lugs 7 extend through the slots in the channel 9 at which time the'key or red 10 .may be inserted to hold the frames rigidly in position. This method of combining the two frames is suggested, although it is appreciated that the two halves of the wing form may be combineo in innumerable ways. As an alternative method, in Fig. 4 the two meeting channels 5 and 6 are united by riveting at a plurality of points along the meeting surfaces, the

rivets being designated as 11.

This particular manner of dividing the wing form into two halves has been resorted to due to difiiculties encountered in aflixing the reinforcement sheets to the outer edges of the form members. The necessity of properly attaching the reinforcement sheets to the wing forms together with the need for producing a rigid wing skeleton structure which includes the bracing of the forms, and the desire to produce the wing structure with the least amount of difficulty and expense, has brought about the separating of the wing structure in separable units of this character which, when combined, not only have the eilect of a built up unitary structure, but a unitary structure with increased strength due to the existence of the meeting frames or members running the width of the wing.

This wing structure also eliminates the necessity for spar reinforcement extending 1011- gitudinally of the wing, as the plurality ofcorrugations of the reinforcement covering sheets produce the efiect of a plurality of tubes. The surface obviously has greater strength than the normal fabric and wooden structure, as it is less easily torn, being'constructed entirely of metal besides having considerably greater crushing strength, and is considerably lighter than the wood-fabric construction.

I claim as my invention:

it. An aeroplane wing construction com'- prising a skeleton frame made up of former members which define the outer contour of the air foil, braces intermediate the former members, and a reinforcement covering, said frame separable through the braces to facilitate the assembly of the frame subsequent to the application of the reinforcement covering, said separable sections of the frame having apertured meeting members adapted to be brought into alignment and rods threaded through the apertures adapted to unite the sections subsequent to the application of the wing covering.

2. fin aeroplane wing construction com prising a skeleton frame made up of former members defining the outer contour of the air foil, braces intermediate the former memhers, and a reinforcement covering, said frame constructed in divisible sections separable horizontally and intermediate the braces which extend between the former members, holding means running parallel to the line of flight adapted to rigidly unite the separate wing sections.

3. An aeroplane .wing construction comprising a skeleton frame made up of former members defining the outercontour of the air foil, braces intermediate the former members, and a reinforcementcovering, said frame constructed in divisible sections seperable horizontally and intermediate the braces which extend between the former members, and means for rigidly uniting the meeting members of the separate frame sections extending parallel to the line of flight.

4. An aeroplane wing construction comprising a skeleton frame made up of former members which define the outer contour of the air foil, braces intermediate the former members, and a reinforcement covering, said frame separable through the braces to facilitate the assembly of the frame subsequent to the application of the reinforcement covering, said separate sections of the frame having apertured meeting members adapted to be brought in alignment, and holding means running parallel to the line of flight, adapted to be threaded through the aligned meeting members to rigidly unite the separate sections subsequent to the application of the wing covering.

WALTER M. CROSS. 

